


The Butterfly Effect

by SweetPoisonedHeart



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fake Dating, Liam is a dense little bean, M/M, Theo is an artist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 17:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14289696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetPoisonedHeart/pseuds/SweetPoisonedHeart
Summary: Liam doesn’t think he needs a boyfriend or girlfriend but his friends seem to think otherwise.He gets tired of all the set-ups and ambushes, so he makes up a boyfriend. It gets them off his back for a couple of days but now they keep asking to meet him. In a panic, he asks his hot new neighbour - who just so happens to be pretty spot on for the guy Liam described - if he’ll fake date him and then break up in a couple weeks time. Things get complicated when Liam starts to develop actual feelings.





	The Butterfly Effect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SeaxWitch](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaxWitch/gifts).



> Aaand, another story for another amazing prompt written by Colby. :)))  
> God, this was supposed to be a one-shot.  
> Also, I have to thank to Corri and Manon for listening to my complaining while writing this and to Sab who helped me with correcting the mistakes. <3

After the chain of failed relationships and broken hearts, Liam was more than convinced that he simply wasn’t made for this kind of things. So,  it was better being single than having a girlfriend that would break up with him with the lame excuse that her dog couldn’t stand him or having a boyfriend that stood him up on their date just for him to later find out that he just had sex with the guy Liam hate d the most? 

 

Yeah, he recognize d that he’s not really the greatest boyfriend material. He knew that sometimes he could be annoying, talking too much. He knew that his IED could sometimes be some sort of a big problem. He knew that he could be insistant and he knew that he wasn’t the richest person that could buy you everything you desired. But he was trying. He was always trying to be good enough, but apparently trying wasn’t enough either. So he learned from his mistakes and he decided to  leave the dating thing for someone else, who was actually good at it.

 

Yeah, let’s say that at parties he would be up for a one night stand because he was a man and he had his needs. But more than that he wouldn’t venture further, he didn’t need to. 

 

But his friends, Mason and Corey, weren’t agreeing with him on that. So they started setting him up with all kind of people, some weirder than the others. He hated those nights, but he felt bad rejecting his friends’ efforts to find him someone that should make him happy. But he grew tired of all  their meddling . He loved his friends, but sometimes they were a little (a little more) extra and he’d tried to find ways to cancel the last few dates they’d set up for him. 

 

And it went okay… until he ran out of excuses, pushing him to impulsively yell in the receptor of his phone that he was already dating someone, in the elevator, causing Mrs. Ross, a nice old lady that lived on the third floor to stare at him like he was an alien that just grew a second head. But that’s another story, kept for another time. 

 

What’s more important right now  was the fact that they keep asking to meet his mysterious lover and he already  had  canceled it too often which was raising suspicions. 

 

And  that was what brought him in front of his neighbor’s door, biting his lip nervously and trying to find a good way to approach him before he would blurt out some stupid shit and he ended up with a door closed right in his face. 

 

After he convinced himself that he could do it, without running like a scared bunny after the door in front of him will open up, he rose his fist and knocked three times, before taking a step back, waiting. He heard steps from the inside and a few moments later, the door  opened  and in front of him stood the very figure of Theo Raeken, the man that had got Liam’s attention from the day he moved into  the building. 

 

Shit! Now that he really  was standing  in front of him, it was harder to do it. Why would Theo accept to fake date Liam until his friends would  buy it and leave him alone if they only  knew each other’s names and all they  said to each other  was a quick “hi” on the hallways or in the elevator? 

 

The idea of running off seemed very  tempting in that moment.

 

“Oh, hello, my dear neighbor! What do I owe the pleasure of this visit and what can I help you with?” a raspy voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He raised his gaze only to meet a pair of breathtaking green eyes that sparkled with amusement and a smirk that was showing his perfect white teeth that were shining like he was  starring in a toothpaste commercial.

 

Liam took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before putting  a smile on his face , that probably made him look like he was constipated.  

 

“Hi Theo! I was just passing by, y’know and I remembered that I have to ask you something” Liam started and he internally kicked himself for both the choice of the words and the way his voice sounded in that moment, like he had something stuck ins his throat.

 

“Oh, great, what is it?” Theo asked and he seemed genuinely interested in Liam’s next words.

 

“Well, I need your help with something…” Liam continued  observing the green-eyed boy’s reactions. “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend tonight” he spoke fast, almost unintelligible. 

 

Theo just stared wide eyed at him, his lips forming a perfectly shaped “o”, digesting the short boy’s words. Liam stood there, feeling the panic lowly eating him out with every second the boy in front of him was staying silent after his words.

 

“Wow, I surely did not see that coming…” Theo spoke for the first time after those long moments of silence that felt like eons. 

 

“I mean, you don’t have to do this! Like, why would you do it anyway? Forget I asked this, I’m sure I can find someone els-”

 

“I’ll do it.” Theo interrupted Liam’s fast rambling, Liam’s words dying in his throat.

 

“Wait what?” Liam asked incredulously. 

 

“I’ll do it. I don’t have anything better to do tonight, so, why not?” Theo shrugged, leaning against the door frame. 

 

“Great!” Liam  breathed  out, trying not to sound too excited. “See you at eight then.”

 

“See you at eight.” Theo simply said and backed a few steps before closing the door without saying  anything else , leaving Liam to stare blankly at the black door.

 

* * *

“Jesus, Liam, you were right when you said that he’s hotter than the concrete on the streets on a summer day!” Mason’s voice rang out in the little booth they were crowded in, after moments of tense silence, causing Liam to choke on his coke, Corey to gasp shocked, but clearly amused and Theo to let out a snort of laughter.

 

“Mason!” 

 

“What?” Mason asked, facing his boyfriend after he called Mason’s name. “Don’t give me that look, you know that I’m right!” Mason exclaimed, and Corey rolled his eyes, but didn’t say more. 

 

“Oh my god!” Liam muttered, sliding further down in his seat, bringing a hand to his face so he could cover the redness. Theo laughed again and  brought his right arm immediately around Liam’s shoulders, pulling him even closer to him, if that was possible. For a few seconds he was distracted by the beautiful, carefree sound and the warmth radiating from Theo’s bod y , pressed to his left side, that seemed to spread everywhere. 

 

“No, babe, it’s okay. You don’t have to be ashamed. Your friends were just being nice.” Theo stated and buried his face in Liam’s hair. 

 

“No, dude, those were literally his words. I’m just agreeing with him.” Mason replied and Liam whimpered and tried to cover his face even more, but a warm hand gently encircled his wrist and tugged at it until his hand was no longer covering his face. He turned his head towards Theo as he took his hand towards his lips and placed a little kiss on his fingers, the whole time maintaining the eye contact with him, those green eyes spreading a warm feeling inside his chest. 

 

A high pitched sound broke Liam from the trance induced by the sea of green in Theo’s irises. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, finding his best friends staring in awe at them, wide eyed, Corey having a wide grin on his face and Mason’s mouth ajar, the straw from his milkshake hanging between his lips. 

 

Liam pulled his hand from Theo’s grip and cleared his throat. Instead, he took a menu that was earlier placed in front of him, trying to  distract himself from the disaster. 

 

“So, Theo, what are your hobbies? What are you doing for a living?” Corey spoke casually, trying to make conversation. 

 

“I’m a painter” Theo reponded and Liam felt the little shrug he gave.    
  


“How cool is that!” he heard Mason exclaiming and he lifted the menu  even more to hide his face.

 

“Yeah, that’s actually one of the reasons I moved here. I’ve been offered a place at the expo, held this month at the art museum and I decided that I should stick around for a while,” Theo explained “and I’m so glad that I decided to move here because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have met Liam.” he continued and planted a kiss on the top of Liam’s head. Again, Liam felt that weird feeling inside his chest. 

 

“Wow, Liam wasn’t lying about this either.” Mason said surprised and he felt Theo’s body stiffen beside him.

 

“Great! Let’s order some food, I’m starving!” Liam said before Theo could question everything. 

 

* * *

The ding of the elevator signaled that they reached their floor. Tiredly, Liam dragged his feet on the floor towards his door, with Theo following  close  behind.

 

Liam stopped in front of his door and Theo stopped in front of his. He turned his head towards Theo just to find that the green-eyed boy was already looking at him. Theo smiled softly and Liam found himself returning the smile. 

 

“Thank you for saving me tonight,” Liam spoke low, almost in a whisper “and I’m also sorry for my friends. They can be a little  _ too  _ much sometimes.” Theo chuckled and shook his head.

 

“It’s okay. They’re fun and you’re really lucky to have friends like them.” Theo stated, turning his body fully towards him and leaning with his shoulder against his door. “But also, I have a question for you… How did you know those things about me?” Theo asked and Liam felt his cheeks burning for the thousandth time that evening. 

 

“I’m a good observant.” he answered and winked at the green-eyed boy. “Besides, your hands are covered in paint, it’s easy to figure out that you really are a painter.”

 

Theo  arched  his eyebrows and looked down at his hands to check if it was indeed true, as if he hadn’t  seen that before. 

 

“Huh, you really are a good observant.” Theo stated and raised his gaze towards Liam. Liam just smiled and thrusted his key in the locker of his door.

 

“Guess I’ll see you around then.” Liam spoke and opened the door.

 

“See you around.”

 

* * *

The next time he saw Theo was in a Wednesday night. He hadn’t seen him since the night  of  the date and he started thinking that he was ignoring Liam after the whole fiasco. Oh, well, he wouldn’t be surprised after all, it was not the first time this  has  happened.

 

Outside was pouring, thunders  raging in the sky like it was seconds apart from splitting in two and the lighting was following like a whip of electricity over the tops of the high buildings. He usually liked this type of weather, to observe the way the water was sliding down his window and the sounds, but today, the storm did nothing but stretch to his nerves even more as he was struggling to study for a stupid, important test about the Roman Empire and it seemed like he couldn’t retain anything in that moment.

 

He exhaled heavily and stretched his limbs, listening to his joints popping, trying to get rid of the feeling of numbness caused by the uncomfortable position he  had curled himself in on the floor, his computer in front of him and his notes scattered all around him. He put his pen down and brought a hand to his face, rubbing across it as in trying to rub the tiredness away. 

 

Another loud thunder was heard and with it all the lights in his apartament  went out. 

 

“Fuck!” he cursed softly under his breath.

 

He jumped as a loud thud came from his door, a few moments later. Frowning, he rose on his feet and walked towards it. He opened it and was almost blinded by a flashlight, followed by a deep chuckle at his reaction.

 

“Well, hello to you too, dear neighbor!” a cheery, familiar voice said. 

 

“Theo? What are you doing here?” Liam asked bewildered. He was indeed surprised to see the boy.

 

“The power went off and I was bored so I thought that you  could use some company.” Theo replied. 

 

“I was actually studying, but since the power went off I can’t do shit right now.” Liam muttered, resting his forehead on the cold surface of the door. “But you can come in if you want.”  And with that, Theo entered in the apartament, before Liam closed the door behind him and  followed him. 

 

After that, they spent hours in the dark, talking about everything and nothing, getting to know more about each other, until they eventually fell asleep curled on the couch, the studying forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> I... literally don't even know what is this.


End file.
